Tokyo National Museum

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Powder flask, 16th-17th century.

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Tachi by Sadayoshi, 13th century.

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Tanto by Kunitoshi, 1316.

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Tachi by Norinaga, 13th century.

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Tachi known as "Koryu Kagemitsu", by Kagemitsu, 1322.

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Tachi by Kunimune, 14th century.

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Tanto, attributed to Masamune.

Yes, that Masamune.

14th century.

Keep going OP!

Thanks for the upload.

>>30923732
>>30923740
Is the blade a bit wide compared to the other swords or is it just an illusion due to it being short?

Keep going, this is some good stuff. Nice variety

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Katana "Kiriha Sadamune", by Sadamune. 14th century.

A pretty rare blade shape called katakiriha zukuri where the two sides aren't mirrors of each other. The side nearest us here has the edge bevel start very close to the edge, while the other side has the more typical Japanese sword styling.

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>>30923748
The latter.

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Katana by Katsumitsu and Harumitsu, 16th century.

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Katana by Kanemoto, 16th century.

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Tachi by Kotetsu, 1664.

Very stupid question, but why are all these blades missing their hilts?

>>30923820
I think it is to show of the signature on that part that I don't know the name of.

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Katana by Korekazu, 1853.

>>30923820
The hilts, especially in complete form, has rarely survived in good condition, or at all, through the centuries. Also, the relative ease of disassembly of a Japanese sword has resulted in many components of it frequently being appreciated as art objects on their own. A single blade may also frequently have multiple sets of fittings for different occasions, along with a plain shirasaya "storage scabbard". Such a setup unfortunately lends itself quite well to having the blade in its shirasaya end up separated from the various sets full sword fittings. And at various points in time the components may have commanded a higher price than the complete sword, with predictable results...

As suggested by >>30923829 in cases like this it is also to allow the tang (nakago) to be seen, with its shape, patina, file marks, and whatever inscription may be on there.

>>30923772
but why

>>30923793
>>30923798
I don't know much shit on sword making. How do you put in designs like that?

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Speaking of things on their own, we move on to parts of the hilt. Fuchigashira set by Tomochika, 19th century.

>>30923861
Engraving/carving. You get your chisels and start digging.

>>30923829
>>30923846

Thanks for that, so were there any surviving hilts/componets on display?

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By Eiju, 19th century.

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Menuki by Katsuyuki, 19th century.

>>30923870
A few fully assembled sets will follow later.

Haven't seen anything like this on /k/ before, thanks for the original content OP.

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By Sojo, 19th century.

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Kozuka, the handle of a small utility knife sometimes carried on the scabbard of a sword. By Mitsumasa, 19th century.

Thanks OP keep it up. Do you have any images if WW2 firearms,

Is this artsy sword stuff unique to Japan? I don't see a lot of western blades with this level of artistry.

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By Issho, 19th century.

To provide some sense of scale and the detail level here, these kozuka are about half an inch wide.

>>30923897
On the blades it might be, but look at some rapier furniture. It can get arbitrarily ornate.

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A pair of kogai, pricks/skewers that would, like the kozuka-hilted kogatana, hitch a ride on the scabbard of a sword.

Upper left by Joshin, 16th century.

Lower right by Mitsutoshi, 18th century.

>>30923896
>Do you have any images if WW2 firearms,

I'm afraid not.

>>30923897
You can find extremely fancy arms and armour from basically any place on Earth where arms and armour where produced. In Europe you have your choice of finely crafted and somewhat understated shapes in bare steel to gilded, complex baskets and intricate cut steel decorations, up to a solid gold base almost completely covered in gemstones.

Also, we should keep in mind that the stuff seen here is by and large the very high end, and often somewhat fancy stuff. The Koryu Kagemitsu is officially designated a national treasure. It isn't the grunt weapons we're looking at here.

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By Somin, 18th century.

>>30923917
European fashion did at times favour plain steel, but in other cases we see pattern welding, bluing, gilding, inlays, etc. (Funnily enough those "plain steel" blades could often be more or less pattern welded, and merely polished bright so that wasn't visible. "Monosteel" is largely a thing of the current and previous century.)

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A matching set, though with the kogai made by a Sojo in the 16th century and the kozuka made by an Eijo, late 16th century-early 17th century. Mneuki not specified.

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Set with "thirty dragons" design, by Yujo, 16th century.

So what's the purpose of the kogai, is it like a fork or is it more for prying/splicing of strings and similar?

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Tsuba, by Natsuo, 19th century.

>>30923989
Mostly a hair pin I think it was.

>>30923697
>>30923703
>>30923719
>>30923719
>>30923713
Why don't they include the rayskin and the grip wrapping ?

By Ichijo, 1857.

>>30924011
See >>30923846

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>>30924025
Men förbannade...

For a daisho, long and short sword pair btw.

Pretty fucking cool, OP.

Are there any museums or collections like this for Western/European swords and things? The fact that there are Tantos from the 1300s is pretty astonishing.

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By Kiyotoshi, 19th century.

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Hirotoshi, 19th century.

>>30924034
>The fact that there are Tantos from the 1300s is pretty astonishing.

Have a look at what's out on the open market: http://nihonto.ca/

As for western stuff, well, overall we seem to have been not quite so good at preserving things since back then, and in the case of blades in particular the Japanese also have a culture of happily (but very, very carefully) giving them a full re-polish when necessary, whereas asking a western museum curator to restore a medieval blade to as-new condition would result in a medical emergency.

That said, there's a large number of museums with excellent collections of old westerns arms and armour. The map here doesn't seem to care about the origin of the items on display, but in the west, odds are it'll be western: http://carlkop.home.xs4all.nl/armsandarmour/

Any armour ?

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Densichi, 18th century.

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Masamori, 18th century.

>>30924073
Soon-ish.

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Tomotsune, 17th-18th century.

>>30924086
ありがとうございます先輩

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Jingo, 17th century.

Arararara... gi

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Matashichi, 17th century.

>>30924097
Let's just say most of my interactions with the locals consisted of pointing, nodding, and reading numbers off of the cashier machine. Though I did meet one who knew a few words of Swedish, and one who was basically fluent...

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San Nobuie, 17th century.

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Kyo Sukashi school, 17th century.

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Owari school, 16th century.

>>30924031
>Men förbannade...
BORLÄNGE

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Now whether the weaponry is the means to this end, or whether the gold coins are the means and the weaponry the end, well, that's something for the Confucians to ponder I guess.

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Domaru cuirass, 14th-15th century.

>>30924206
Were there any "bulletproof" armours at that time ?

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Haramaki cuirass, 15th century.

Differentiated from domaru by opening along the back, isntead of along the right hand side.

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>>30924255
The first guns showed in in Japan in 1543, so prior to that you're unlikely to find any armour that'll stop a musket at combat range.

Once guns did show up though they fell passionately in love with them, and as a result we also see some bullet proof armour, both imported European breastplates and domestic production, though I'm under the impression that they were somewhat rare.

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>>30924292
>showed in in

showed UP in

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Gusoku armour, 17th century.

>>30924331
This is really interesting.

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Fur kindly donated by some bear.

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Gusoku, late 16th-early 17th century.

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Great thread op, posting some stuff from a civil war/American military museum in Kentucky.

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Naaazis

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Dobuku jacket, purportedly used by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Late 16th-early 17th century.

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Saddle and stirrups, 18th century.

>>30924387
Their armor seem literally make of lanced bamboo. Idk why people compare Japanese with European armor, when it very clear that European armor offer more protection.

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O-yoroi armour, 14th century.

Armour for the mounted elite, while the grunts run around on foot in haramaki and domaru.

Then fighting shifted to being more infantry-centric, and no one bothered with o-yoroi outside of parades and more.

Also, the wonders of having a much warmer light inside the display cabinet than ambient, and the white balance that results.

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>>30924434
Lancing? That sounds like an unnecessarily difficult way of turning bamboo stalks into small slats.

On a more serious note, anyone interested in hearing about the construction of Japanese armour, including how they can go back and forth between leather and metal scales under all that lacquer at the drop of a hat without ever passing bamboo, can check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhVTV_txGFY

>>30924480
i mean laced, fucking auto correct

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>>30924472
>Fuck off with this gay shit

Wrong museum, you seem to be thinking of the "Shinjuku" Samurai Museum over in Kabukicho. Plenty of host bars around that one. (Pics to follow some day, of the museum, not the host bars.) Ueno is a, well, comparatively upstanding place. Even if it isn't by much when we stray south of the park.

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>>30923688

pls OP let this thread live for 4 more hours until I can save all the pictures

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>>30924507
But the idea of someone doing a don Quixote cavalry shock against a bamboo groove is much more entertaining.

>>30924521
it call archive, not going anywhere

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>>30924521
Seems likely, I'm not that much past halfway.

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>>30924518
just search up that "shinjuku" museum thing, the armor look more flashy and well made, is it a reproduction or real stuff?

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>>30924434

Japanese armor is made with a lamellar steel construction. Late Sengoku helmets are probably some of the most durable medieval headgear ever constructed due to the huge number of layered plates they are made of.

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Tachi fittings, 13th-14th century.

Reasonably plain, all-black fittings like these appears to have been the fighting man's preference up until, say, early Edo period or so. And those of higher ranks would have a set like this for serious sue, while they may also keep some much fancier sets around for social occasions with a somewhat lower death count.

>>30924553
A mix, the ones in your pic being modern made. Worth a visit IMO, though entry was expensive by Japanese standards (1800JPY).

>>30923688
Any account of imported European armor during the Sengoku Jidai?

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Koshigatana mountings. 14th-15th century.

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>>30924599
None on display during my visit. Closest to be seen was this bit. Painting imported from southern Spain, rest locally made. 17th century.

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Tachi, attributed to retired Emperor Gotoba. 13th century.

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Uchigatana fittings for the tachi blade just above, late 16th-early 17th century.

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Might as well offer a bump with my Nihonto. Blade on display is a Late Kamakura Tegai school Katana with a gimei Rai Kunitoshi signature on the nakago, probably cut down from a tachi length at some point in time due to it's curvature.

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Tanto by Yukimitsu. 14th century.

>>30924683
One of these days I need to rob a bank or something...

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Aikuchi style mountings for that tanto, 19th century.

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>>30924683

These were taken a few years ago with a pretty bad camera, but I still have a couple of okay shots.

>>30924696

Nihonto can be pretty affordable as long as you aren't a perfectionist. None of my swords cost me over $2500. Blades can be had for as low as $800 for a Shin-shinto tanto or a Showa era katana or something of the like though.

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Remains of two bronze swords imported from Korea, Yayoi period, 1st-3rd century.

Japan doesn't really have much of a bronze age, as imports of iron tools appears to have started around the same time, or slightly earlier, than imports of bronze luxury goods.

Another funny thing IMO is how similar these pommels are to European bronze age antenna hilts.

>>30924720

Japan imported a lot of iron ring pommel swords from China in the early days of it's history. Those bronze swords are exceptionally rare in Japan

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>>30924717

Last one for now. If anyone is interested, I may scrounge my hard drive for some more related materials when i get home.

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Left to right...

Three bronze spearheads, 2nd century BC - 3rd century AD. The alrge ones are ceremonial, the small one might be as well.

Four bronze swords/dirks. Somewhere around the same period, they were less generous with the English here.

Three bronze ge, 2nd-1st century BC.

>>30924717
Yeah, I should be able to squeeze somethign in if I, say, go for a cheap vacation that year, and don't get any funny ideas about other expensive things.

Not this year though at least. Japan recently, Athens in November, maybe squeeze in a weekend to St Petersburg to see the Aurora before the iron curtain slams down again...

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>>30924745
Not a bad photo that one.

>>30924331
so cat ears is a cultural thing and not a weeb thing. interesting

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Half of a stone ge mould. 2nd-1st century BC.

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Iron ge and sword, 2nd-1st century BC.

>>30924782
I wonder if those might not be meant as rabbit ears. The rabbit symbolised longevity. Or maybe a boar's, given the fur? Courage, charging straight ahead no matter what.

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Arrowheads, stone and bone, Epi-Jomon period, 2nd century BC-3rd century AD.

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Pommels, Kofun period, 6th century.

>>30924683
Nice

I've been in contact with a Japan-based seller who offers some antique blades. What's kind of offputting is that they claim to be able to ship within a few days when I have heard that nihonto require export paperwork that can take a few weeks.

Does anyone here knows what's up with that? They have good ratings, but I'd rather not run a risk of potentially having my package stopped by japanese customs

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In the spirit of >>30924196, assorted beads, Kofun period.

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Stone dagger and arrowheads. Possibly ceremonial and made of talc.

>>30924838
Perhaps the more troublesome paperwork can be obtained in advance, and they've made sure to do so? Pure guesswork here on my part though. The guys over at nihontomessageboard.com might be able to tell you if someone's legit or not.

As for getting your package outright seized by customs, I think that'd only be the case if you happened upon something of such historical value that it was banned for export, which seems unlikely unless you've parted with a lot of cash. Or possibly if you somehow got your hands on an unregistered, illegal blade, but the seller is in DEEP fucking shit if that happens, so that seems unlikely.

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Bronze mirror (this is the back, the other side is flat and would have been polished as shiny as possible). 4th-5th century.

Mirrors appears to have been a big deal to the early Yamato people, with the imperial regalia being a sword, a mirror, and a gem (like in >>30924852).

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Helmet, 5th century.

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What I suspect is the remains of a lamellar bronze cuirass.

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Silver-inlaid sword, 5th-6th century.

Have to comment again, this is some really cool stuff. Thanks OP.

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Swords and spearheads, 5th-6th century.

>>30924838

There are a few decent sellers in Japan, but In my experience, American dealers are a lot more forthcoming and honest with their pieces. Most reputable dealers around the world will stand by their products and offer a 3-7 day inspection period. But It saves a lot of hassle with customs if you are dissatisfied with your purchase and wish to return it if you aren't trying to ship it back over seas. I would recommend looking over Ed's pieces at Yakiba to see if anything there piques your interest.

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Sword with silver-leaf covered ring pommel. 5th-6th century.

thanks again to the OP for taking the time to share your photos with us. I'm living vicariously through your posts

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Tankou cuirass and helmet, 5th-6th.

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Ken sword, with a recent polish to show some of how it's made.

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Ting pommel sword, 5th-6th century,

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Metal bits from swords and armour fit for royalty. The usual centuries...

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Tanko cuirass, with the back towards the camera.

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Tanko cuirass with lamellar faulds. 5th century.

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Swords, 4th-5th century.

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Tanko, 5th century.

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Lamellar cuirass, helmet, and what I guess are forearm protectors. 5th-6th century.

>>30925244
>forearm protectors
Would those be called vambraces?

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A somewhat fancy sword, and a pair of pommels. Rather later than the rest I think (note how the ring pommel is getting a bit, well, stale in style), but the photo I took of the sign is badly out of focus.

>>30925268
Yes. At times at least.

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That's it for the Japanese stuff.

Hooked spearheads, Uttar Pradesh, India, ca 1500 BC.

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Same sans hooks.

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Ge, Thailand, ca 3rd BC-2nd century AD.

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Thai (north east) spearheads, 1st millennium BC.

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Two spears from Borneo. 19th-early 20th century.

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According to the museum, everythign on the all behind the spears where krises. A, uhm, novel approach from what I've seen. I'd call this a klewang for example.

Indonesia, 1910.

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An actual kris.

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Another two, along with an, hm, parang?

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Off to China

Ge, 3rd-2nd century BC.
Spearhead, 5th-3rd century BC.
Shortsword, 4th-3rd century BC.

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A few ge.

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Polearm butts.

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Ji, 2nd cnetury BC-3rd century AD.

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Swords and a dagger. The ring pommels from 1st century BC to 2nd century AD, the one without a century earlier.

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And to end it all a Korean whetstone in silver mounts, 5th-6th century.

All my pics (including signs, etc): http://www.mediafire.com/download/lphirc9eqzdekbk/Japan_-_Tokyo_National_Museum_2.zip

And since it seems some here have missed my tendency to bugger museums with my camera, here's where I've put most of the /k/ related pics I've taken, including those form my previous trip to the National Museum in Tokyo: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/4v4c0uwexuyo7/My_Photographs

The archives that aren't quite so descriptive about where the museum lies are for stuff here in Sweden.

Pics from the Samurai Museum mentioned above to follow at some point, and probably a miscellaneous thread as well, though that might end up as Hikone castle&museum in /tg/ and a few odds and ends just tossed into whatever suitable thread I can find.

>>30925367
god i love old shit.

>>30923688
In japan, Do bus loads of American tourists that all look the same show up to all of the national attractions by the bus load with their cameras all in hand?

Here in the states, Every single national park, museum, etc gets hoards of tour busses packed with asians that just like to stand around and in general be in the way while they take millions of pictures giving the peace sign.

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>>30925666
Mostly Asian tourists in Japan too, which may not be that big a surprise considering their western neighbour. They seemed a bit less clumped up though than around, say, Stockholm's royal castle, or what you describe.

>>30923688
hey thanks a lot op this was nice of you to share. you have pics from any other countires?

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>>30926064
Sweden, Austria, England, France and some more from Japan. A bit short on time to post though, so here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/4v4c0uwexuyo7/My_Photographs

>>30924070
I like to think that Europeans were much more pragmatic, simply using whatever is best at killing their enemies and discarding obsolete weapons. Europeans never saw their swords as cult objects as much as the Japanese did.